Solution for Today's Cluely, Oct-29-2024, #9

  

Solution, notes, and explanations

Theme: Flags 

Seems like the mini is a favorite (6x6), so here we are at it again.  And the theme is a familiar one: Flags!

   

Clues

• 🇺🇸 : US. 
• 🇨🇭: SWISS.   
• 🇵🇦: PANAMA.
• 🇪🇸: SPAIN.
•  🇼🇸: SAMOA.
• 🇯🇵: JAPAN.

Flags tell a story of culture and a nation's history. Japan, "the land of the rising sun", indeed has the sun on it's flag. The sun plays a big rule in the Japanese culture. For example, the emperor is said to be a descendent of the sun goddess,  Amaterasu. 

The rest of the clues are pretty straight forward. Note that (by popular demand) we do have clues also for single-letters when appropriate. For example, "Zero?" is a clue to the letter "O".

 

Levels

• 🇱🇷(Liberia, 1 star) Club
• 🇰🇳(Saint Kitts, 2 stars)
• 🇭🇳(Honduras, 5 stars)
• 🇺🇸(USA, 50 stars)
• Vexillologist (Scholar of flags)

How hard was it?

Admittedly, most of us might be not that familiar with the flags. BUT, we are familiar with the name of the states. Thus, by getting some letters, one could guess the countries, and solve the puzzle.

Overall, it was a mini-Cluely, on somewhat familiar topic. But you did have to use some puzzle solving technique (meaning, going for other clues). We'll give it 2-laps around the block .

'till the next one,

 Zachi (waddling along).

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Solution for Today's Cluely, Oct-22-2024, #8

 

Solution, notes, and explanations

Theme: Cards

This is indeed a mini-Cluely : Only 6x6 (the usual is 8x8).  And the theme is a familiar one: Cards!

   

Clues

• Picture top left: Clubs. 
• Picture top right: Heart.   
• Picture middle left: Spade. 
• Picture bottom right: (not a clue, but the missing suit:) Diamond.
• Theme clue bottom left: Tarot.

Some other interesting clues:

• MLS - Major League Soccer (MLB stands for Major League Baseball).
• NBA - National Basketball Association.
• AT - Rarest element. Astatine is the rarest naturally appearing element, as it occurs only as a decay product of heavier elements. The half-life time of the stablest isotope of Astatine is 8 hours. Appropriately, the name is derived from "Astatos", which means "unstable" in Greek.

Levels

The levels relate to the hierarchy of bidding suits in Bridge:

• Club
• Diamond
• Heart
• Spade
• No Trump - This is not a political statement! The highest level of bidding in Bridge is no-trump, which means none of the suits can trump. 

How hard was it?

Admittedly, AT might be hard, and also MLS was difficult for many. BUT, for AT you could find all letters in other ways, and MLS is similar enough to MLB to allow guessing.

Overall, it was a mini-Cluely, on familiar topic. We'll give it 1-laps around the block .

'till the next one,

 Zachi (waddling along).

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Solution for Today's Cluely, Oct-15-2024, #7

   

Solution, notes, and explanations

Theme: Yoga poses

Can we consider basic Yoga as an expected crossword-solver's knowledge? Interesting question. This holds true for any of our theme-based crosswords. We'll ponder this. In the meantime, go enjoy some Yoga!

Clues

• Picture top left: Cobra. Back bends are important for your. back-health.
• Picture top right: Warrior. This is actually Warrior-I posture. There is also Warrior-II (sideways) and Warrior-III (one legged) poses.  
• Picture middle left: Cow. This is half of the pair Cat-Cow  (back arched upward -  Back arched downward) poses.
• Picture bottom left: Chair pose.
• Picture middle right: Aum. Common start/end of Yoga sessions. Another common spelling is Om. And, of course, not to be confused with Ohm (measure of electrical resistance).

 The picture at the bottom right is a common symbol of Peace-Love-Yoga. 

Some other relevant clues:

• FO - "Fee, fi, fo, fum, I smell the blood of an english man" - This is the first line in the chant of the Giant in the English fairy tale "Jack and the beanstalk".
• SIFU - In many dujos, at the end of Kong-Fu practice, the students say "Xiexie sifu", which means "Thank you master".

Levels

The levels achieved follow various poses:

• Happy Baby - Relaxing pose to get you smiling.
• Warrior-I  - Front facing
• Warrior-II - Side facing
• Warrior-III - One legged Lassie and Old-Yeller (Classics)
• Shavasana - The english name is 'Corpse', but this is the common relaxation pose at the end of a Yoga session. Yes, you might fall asleep during this pose , only to be awaken by the closing bell.

How hard was it?

If you are doing Yoga, or did Yoga, it was pretty straightforward. If not, hopefully you knew some of the poses, and there was the EASY version this time around.

This Cluely was not too hard. The level rating is 2-laps around the block .

'till the next one,

 Zachi (waddling along).

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Solution for Today's Cluely, Oct-08-2024, #6

  

Solution, notes, and explanations

Theme: Man's (and everyone's) best friend

We have a new puppy at home, so this is a perfect time to focus on dogs. Our puppy is named Echo, and she is a Hungarian Vizsla (yes, like the pictured puppy). 

Clues

• Picture top left: Shar-pei. South China dog, bred mainly for property guarding.
• Picture top middle: Hungarian Vizsla. Hunting dog from (well) Hungary, and used mainly for pointing and retrieving. 
• Picture top right: Pug. Originally from China, this breed is characterized by wrinkly short-muzzled face, and a curled tail.
• Picture middle left: Bulldog. British dog, of the mastiff type, usually bred for companion. 

The other themed clues were the Corgi, Queen Elizabeth II favorite breed, and Shiba-Inu, a Japanese breed. 

 The picture at the top middle is of the AKC, American Kennel Club.

Levels

The levels achieved follow various characters in the series:

• Scooby-Doo and Snoopy (Cartoons)
• Air-Bud and Beethoven (Movies-1)
• Toto and Bruiser (Movies-2)  - Toto is from "The Wizard of Oz", and Bruiser is from "Legally Blond"
• Lassie and Old-Yeller (Classics)
• Laika (First space dog) - The first animal to orbit earth, in 1957, on board of a Russian rocket.

How hard was it?

If you are a fan of Dogs, it was pretty straightforward. If not, hopefully you knew some of the breeds.

This Cluely not too hard. The level rating is 1-lap around the block .

'till the next one,

 Zachi (waddling along).

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